Philippians 4:8

Sledding in the Rocky Mountains

My friend Beth and I spent some time in the Rocky Mountains in Estes Park, Colorado, over the holidays.

We had our third annual sledding fest! It starts by driving around Rocky Mountain Nation Park scooping out a good hill to sled down. When the most spectacular hill is found we pile on the clothes and head out with our blue plastic sleds.

Second to importance to the choosing of a perfect sledding hill is deciding on what path has the least amounts of trees to run into. And before we take the plunge we say a quick pray and hope there aren't may jagged rocks buried in the snow...we have the holes in our sleds to prove our encounters with those sneaky suckers.

When I'm in the mountains surrounded by God's creation and glory I can do nothing but marvel at how amazing He is. The beauty and the majesty of snow covered hill tops brings me into a place of awe and surrender.

I think of Psalms 121 and not only know but sense His protection and guidance. Our God is great and forever to be praised!

Psalms 121

I look up to the hills, but where does my help come from? My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth. He will not let you be defeated. He who guards you never sleeps. He who guards Israel never rests or sleeps. The LORD guards you. The LORD is the shade that protects you from the sun. The sun cannot hurt you during the day, and the moon cannot hurt you at night. The LORD will protect you from all the dangers; He will guard your life. The LORD will guard you as you come and go, both now and forever.

Merry Chirstmas!

Hope everyone has had a great Chirstmas with family and friends!

I had a great time with my parents and my sister and her husband. It was a day filled with presents, fellowship, a classic delicous Californian lunch, and a couple eposides of "Merry Christmas Mr. Bean".

And yes...as a matter of fact in Colorado we did have a white ~freezing cold~ Christmas!

Here are a couple of pictures from a Chirstmas party I went to with friends. My friend Beth is back from Hawaii, ya! I bet you can't pick her out...

(Can you tell who lives in Hawaii and who lives in lilly white Colorado? ;)

My November Support Letter!

As some may know I am in the process of raising support to move to Swaziland for 2 years God willing! I will be going with Children's Cup to work in the clinic as a nurse in addition to working in the CarePoint's.

I've just recently begun support raising and am absolutely humbled and in awe of my God!

Here is a link to my support letter. It explains what I'll be doing in Swazi and the journey God has used to bring me to minister in Africa. I LOVE talking about what God is doing in Africa so if you have questions about Africa or what I'll be doing there let me know!

Check it out!

December News Letter

(Give it a minute or so to load up if it's moving slow ;)

There's a first time for everything...

Today I am proud to say is the first time I truly dumpster dived.
(I really don't count the time when my parents had us dumpster dive at a construction site for scrap wood in Colorado Springs...it's a great experience when your in 3rd grade. Thanks mom and dad! ;)

Me and my roommate were having a little cleaning spree this weekend. When I finished vacuuming I did the responsible thing and went to empty the vacuum canister outside in our dumpster.

Now Colorado has just had a day or so of snow, about 8 inches of beautiful serenity, and the temperature is hanging around 25 degrees and dropping. It was going to be a quick out and in deal.

No mess, no hassle.

In my hurried, freezing trip I forgot that in the vacuum canister was a filter that I had to take out before dumping out all the goodness that I collected while vacuuming.

As I'm mindlessly banging the canister over the dumpster thinking of nothing more that just getting back to the warmth of inside I realize...wait, was there something I was supposed to take out before I did this?

A moment of looking at the empty canister brought the dreaded sense that I had effectively thrown the filter away.

In an attempt to rescue my vacuum filter I climbed up the side and was able to hang half way over grasping at air and was naively optimistic about how far I could reach...but no dice...rats.

As I jumped down from the dumpster hoping no one was watching me and wishing I had "Go Go Gadget Arms", I scrapped my arm against the germ infested, tetanus covered, rusting corner of the dumpster...yikes.

Great...not only will I have lost my vacuum filter but now I'm going to get a massive infection that is going to require hospitalization, then it's going to go septic, the bacteria will settle on my heart valves, and then they are going to have to amputate my arm!

(Ok, maybe this is an slight over reaction from the nurse, possibly ;)

As I quickly inspected my arm in the dark I realized I could use my window scrapper to fish out the filter! After a couple of attempts I finally was able to get a hold of the dust and snow covered filter. YEAH!

Now to all my fellow dumpster diving who are smelling what I'm stepping in: keep your head up high and enjoy the adventures of discovering the treasures amongst the trash; and if you ever find a vacuum filter do you mind returning it to me?

Thanks Hannah!

I just wanted to have a shout out for one of many great friends. Hannah is pretty much an amazing friend, neighbor, and "Director of Young Women's Ministry with Teen Girls/Females" (or whatever they decided on what her title should be ;) at Calvary Church. She is such a blessing to me and to all she is with.

We've led a high school girls Bible study together, have self titled ourselves the "yenta's" of our friends, laughed until we hurt, cried on each others shoulders when life hits us hard and depended on each other when we were learning together hard life lessons.

She was available the other day to help me stuff my support letters and I greatly appreciated her help and encouragement. I love ya sisi!

I'll apologize to her husband now because when I move to Swaziland I'm kidnapping her and taking her with me...
I might compromise and not knock her out and kidnap her only and ONLY IF if they promise to visit me in Swazi ;)

We look a little delusional and giddy...only slightly though ;) This was taken in the morning after a lock-in we supervised for the 30 Hour Famine with our youth kids. This is what 30 hours without food and 3 hours of sleeping on the floor in the church with 20 youth look like. Yikes!

Learning to Hear the Call of God

I found a book in my parents basement that someone had given to me but I never started reading.
You could say that it was a God thing that I found it cause I'm not usually down in my parents basement any more. If it hadn't been for the stubborn cat that was hiding from me I might have never spotted it ;)
Bless her dear little heart...

The book is compiled of two of Oswald Chambers books on service and the mission field. They are "So Send I You" and "Workmen of God". The chapters are shorter so you can read a chapter a day and use it kinda like a devotional.
Highly recommended if you are searching for your calling, excited and thirst about the things of God, or if you are feeling called to a lifestyle of service and/or missions, whether in your backyard or to the ends of the earth!

Oswald Chambers begins by using Isaiah 6:3-9 as an example of how God calls us into His service. Isaiah was in the presence of God and he overheard the heart of God.

"God does not have to come and tell me what I must do for Him; He brings me into a relationship with Himself where in I hear His call and understand what He wants me to do, and I do it our of sheer love to Him."

--Oswald Chambers in "So Send I You"

The call of God is not necessarily a specific lightening bolt, "This is what I want you to do". It is when we are in His presence and He is calling us to serve Him we see the clarity of what He is calling us all to do...to serve Him. Everyone will serve Him in unique yet unified ways as God has made us the Body of Christ.

"When people say they have had a call to foreign service, or to any particular sphere of work, they mean that their relationship to God has enabled them to realize what they can do for God. Their natural fitting for service and the call of God is identified as one in them."

--Oswald Chamber in "So Send I You"

How amazingly freeing is our LORD? How blessed we are to have a God that loves and cares for us! I wish to continue to dive more into this amazing relationship with my God!

It can be so tempting some times to say with pride and a condescending tone, "Well I am called to be a missionary to Africa" or even people replying how super spiritual you are for being a missionary in the scary jungles of Africa (as if the "country" aka continent of Africa is one scary jungle with ginormous hairy spiders and crazy poisonous snakes...well, maybe they're right about the spiders and snakes, but Africa is a very diverse continent with many different kinds of climates ;). The thing is that when we are in a relationship with Him and following His lead, He calls us all and takes us to where He wants us...that which brings Him glory. There is nothing more spiritual if your ministering in Africa vs being a stay at home mom vs working at a coffee shop vs teaching Sunday School to 3rd graders.

Praise the Lord! Seek Him! Dig deep into a relationship with Him. Dwell in His presence. Serve Him in the ways He has called and gifted you.
Love God, love people...

Children's Cup - CarePoints

Here is video on what Children's Cup is doing in Swaziland! Enjoy!

Serving God...

"To serve God is the deliberate love gift of a nature that has heard the call of God."
-- by Oswald Chambers